It's A Good Day When Your Kid Calls You Names

Weekday mornings are frequently a stress-fest for a single working Mom with two kids and a need to get out the door on time. For some reason, Anna goes completely deaf from seven to eight every weekday morning, and I have to shout, shake her, bang pots and pans and yes, even throw cold water on her to get her up and moving.

David, on the other hand, is usually up and raring to go and today was no exception. Unfortunately, he was having too much fun playing with the cat and he wasn't getting dressed. I asked him nicely a few times, then interrupted his activity and pointing at my nose - this is a little trick his therapists taught me early on to get him to make eye contact - and repeated my request. A few more minutes passed and I finally had to raise my voice and pick the cat up to get him to comply. He was good and mad about it, too!

And for the first time ever, David called me names! I am a mean Mommy! Mean! And I'm stinky, too! Mean, stinky Mommy! This ended in a short time out, during which he still had to get dressed. For most Moms, this would constitute a bad morning, but when you're an autism Mom, this was awesome.

My autistic son used language appropriately (if disrespectfully) and contextually. He verbalized his anger instead of hitting or kicking me, or smacking an inanimate object. He didn't scream or tantrum. He expressed his opinion and it didn't go over the top. What a great way to start the day! Yeah!

Add to that the fact that Anna woke up after only two prompts and vanished mysteriously upstairs where she changed her shirt three times, curled her hair and yelled at me to toss up her bottle of Hollister perfume. None of this is because she likes that boy who likes her back, you understand. So don't go thinking that it does. I somehow kept from smiling when she was looking.

And that's a slice of life in the chaotic world I inhabit. Who would have thought being a stinky Mommy could make me so happy?

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